lunaticg banknote & coin

Odyssey Marine must return 500m treasure

As reported by AFP, Justice Clarence Thomas, a US Supreme Court justice refused to grant a Florida company's request to block a lower court's order to return treasure to the Spanish government that was salvaged from a ship sunk in 1804. Odyssey Marine Exploration must return 500m treasure which recovered from the wreck of the Spanish ship "Nuestra Senora de las Mercedes." The company was trying to overturn a February 1 decision by a federal court in Atlanta that ordered the treasure returned. The lower court said the ship, which was sunk during a battle with a British fleet, remained the property of Spain.

Picture by telegraph.co.uk: hoard of treasure found

The ship was found in May 2007 at a depth of 1,700 feet (518 meters) in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Portugal. It was returning from Peru. The hundreds of gold objects and more than 500,000 silver coins Odyssey Marine Exploration discovered are expected to be the most valuable treasure recovery in history.

The company hid the discovery under the code name of "Black Swan Project" while it removed the treasure to an undisclosed location.

The 11th US Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta ruling said that releasing the treasure "to Odyssey rather than Spain would be inconsistent with Spain's rights under the 1902 Treaty of Friendship and General Relations between the United States of America and Spain.

"This treaty requires the United States to extend to Spanish shipwrecked vessels the same protection and immunities afforded to its own shipwrecked vessels in similar circumstances."

Odyssey Marine Exploration still can appeal for a review by the entire Supreme Court, which historically has offered a minimal chance of success after rejection by one of its own justices.

Source: AFP.

Wish this kind of action will be taken by The Department of Museums Malaysia to all National treasure thieves. People had been exploring Malaysian water and land for treasure, without any action for a very long time. Some of them has became instant silent millionaire. We have the law but we cannot see any enforcement, as always has been in Malaysia. Some people really like to brag about their stolen find. Good luck to them.

1933 double eagle UK Exhibition

For the first time, a 1933 double eagle will be exhibited in UK. The famous USA 1933 gold double eagle will go on display in London next month. The exhibition is part of a European tour arranged by the Samlerhuset Group, parent company of the London Mint Office, with the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History, based in Washington DC. The free exhibition will be open to the public at Goldsmiths' Hall in Foster Lane, London, between 10am and 4pm on Saturday, March 3 and Sunday, March 4. The coin has been the world most expensive coin for so many years before a new most expensive coin take over its position; 1794 silver dollar coin.

1933 double eagle UK Exhibition
Place: Goldsmiths' Hall in Foster Lane, London.
Date: 3 and 4 March 2012
Time: 10am and 4pm
Admission: Free.

1933 Double eagles were minted on 15 March 1933, a week after President Franklin Roosevelt, ordered the US Treasury to halt the release of all gold. In 1937, all the coins were destroyed by the Treasury and melt them into gold bars. Only two of the coins survived as part of the official US coin collection at the Smithsonian Institution. But 10 of the coins surfaced in the 1940's. Over the next decade, the US Secret Service tracked down nine of them and destroyed them. All of the owners said they bought them from Switt, or from someone who bought them from Switt, according to court documents. Switt was twice investigated for illegally possessing gold coins in the 1930s and 1940s. He surrendered many of the coins, but was never prosecuted because the statute of limitations had run out, Assistant U.S. Attorney Jacqueline Romero said to Associated Press.

The tenth 1933 Double Eagle, became the personal collection of Egypt's King Farouk in the 1940's, he received permission from the US government to ship the coin overseas. In 1954, the coin turned up at an auction in Cairo, during a sale of the deposed king's coin collection. Upon learning of the 1933 Double Eagle, the US government requested that it not be sold. The coin disappeared, only to turn up in the 1990s in the possession of British collector Stephen Fenton, who was arrested in New York City after trying to sell the coin to undercover US Secret Service agents. The government and Fenton later consented to its sale at auction on 30 july 2002 for $7.59 million and split the proceeds with the owner.

In 2004, Switt's daughter, Joan Langbord, told officials at the US Treasury that she had found 10 more 1933 Double Eagles in a safe deposit box.She asked the Treasury Department to authenticate them. The government instead seized them, but the federal judge later ordered officials to defend the forfeiture at trial. The coins are being kept at Fort Knox. The government argues that the safety box was not rented until six years after Switt died in 1990. Government lawyers say that 10 other "double eagles" that surfaced in the 20th century can all be traced to Switt. Prosecutors believe Switt and a corrupt cashier at the Mint had a hand in the breach. The Langbords had opened their deposit box the day before the London dealer's Farouk coin was seized in 1996, Romero said. The family later offered a similar 50-50 split with the U.S. to settle the case, but the government rejected it on grounds the family cannot legitimize their ownership of the coins, given Switt's history.

Poslaju or Pos Express

Poslaju or Pos Express, which one do you prefer? A few weeks ago, many of my online friends have problem sending their item via Pos Express. Some of their items are missing, the parcel is arrive to the recipient but the content is empty, someone may had stolen it. Some of their Pos Express parcels take over one weeks to arrive. Many of you maybe don't know that Pos Express is now under Poslaju and starting this year, they want to be strict with Pos Express consignment. Pos Express is suppose to be use only for documents and if you're trying to save money by sending your parcel in Pos Express envelope, they have the right not to send your item. They will contact sender to pick up your undelivered mail at any nearest poslaju office.

I had been using Poslaju since 2003 and not a single consignment has been missing/don’t receive by my online buyer (as long as they give a correct address). Yes.., they’re some small mistake by Posmen; parcel send to the receiver neighbour, item mistakenly send to different receiver, parcel has been open and many more mistake that’s in my mind a normal thing for a human. Overall, Poslaju don’t have any bad record with me. I also had been using Pos Express and Pos Daftar before but both of the Pos Malaysia services were giving me problem most of the time.

Poslaju a little bit costly, at least RM5.95 for one parcel and Pos Express cost you RM3 for a single document envelope. Both post services by Pos Malaysia will normally send the item the next day. One big difference about the service, Poslaju requires signature of the person receiving it while Pos Express doesn't require any. They normally will send your Pos Express in a post box. If the post box don't have a lock or anyone can get access to the post box, the probabilty of the item missing are very high. Since the items are not received by human, if they're any tampered on the envelope or the item are missing in the envelope, posmen can say that it is not them who do such thing because nobody can double check.

For all my online sellers friends who are using Poslaju, if your buyer told you they don’t received their item the next day of delivery, don't panic. Immediately called Posline at 1300-300-300 (the number is on poslaju track paper) as soon as possible. Told them nicely what happened to your consignment. Just make sure you're ready with the copy of your Poslaju form because they maybe ask some question relating to the track number and sender/receiver information. They can detect what happened since anyone who handle poslaju consignment (posmen) had their name recorded in poslaju system. If the Posmen want to steal your parcel, it will not hard to detect them. They said it take 3 days to check what is the problem but most of the time, the problems are settle within 2-3 hours after you called Posline.

If you're asking me which one do I prefer, Poslaju or Pos Express. Poslaju is my choice. Just make sure you pack the item nicely, Poslaju will send your item the next day without any problem. How about you, what is your choice?

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Andy Warhol Silver Coin 2011

Andy Warhol Silver coin 2011 is one of the coins that I had missed in my last year post. The 2011 France €10 Silver Proof "Andy Warhol" minted by Monnaie de Paris or France Mint. The coin is created to commemorate 25th anniversary of his death. It minted in .900 Silver Proof quality with only 10,000 pieces available worldwide. Andy Warhol was a leading figure in the visual art movement known as pop art. He worked in a range of mediums, including painting, sculpture, film, and music. I love his art design and it will be a joy for at least keeping a coin that show one of his artwork.

On the Obverse, is Andy Warhol artwork "Dollar Sign" (1981) in full color is used with the year 2011.

On the reverse, an Andy Warhol self- portrait from 1964 appears with the year dates of his birth and death (1928-1987). In the background is the famous quote "Making money is art".

Technical Specification:
Mint: Monnaie de Paris
Denomination: €10
Quality: Proof
Issue limit: 10,000 pcs.
Alloy: 90% Silver
Diameter: 37 mm
Weight: 22.2 g
Box/Capsule: Yes/Yes
Certificate: Yes
Price: $89.95

This coin is still available at Royal Scandinavian Mint, you can go to their website rsmint.com.

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) just release a warning advise today via their website about the Fake Jose Rizal 150 pesos Banknote. BSP has never issued nor is planning to issue such type of banknote. Therefore, any 150-Piso commemorative note or similar banknote is fictitious. The public is advised to report anyone passing such 150-Piso fictitious notes to the police authorities and/or to the Investigation Division, Cash Department, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, Security Plant Complex, East Avenue, Diliman, Quezon City through telephone numbers 926-5092 and 929-7071 local 618 or via e-mail through bspmail@bsp.gov.ph.

The only Commemorative BSP released for 150th years of Jose Rizal Birthday is a 1 piso Jose Rizal Commemorative coin last December. For anyone who don't know, the National Hero of the Philippines, was born on June 19th, 1861 and 2011 marks the 150th anniversary of his birth. I like the idea of 150 pesos banknote and that will be a perfect commemorative notes, if they exist. Since BSP already announced that this banknote never exist, we can only dreaming about it. I read in some forum, this note are actual design submitted to BSP but never release into production. We can read so many thing about it but if they don't exist, we cannot collect them, right.

Source: www.bsp.gov.ph